Finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) committed Thursday to further strength East Asian financial cooperation.

The ministers at their 9th ASEAN+3 Finance Meeting said in a joint statement that they agreed to further strengthen the cooperation in policy development and urged for swift actions both on the demand and supply side to stabilize the oil market.

The ministers exchanged views on regional economic and financial development and policies, as well as the progress of regional financial cooperation process.

They said that East Asia had maintained a strong momentum and the overall economic outlook remained bright in 2006. However, there were a number of potential downside risks such as persistently high oil prices, widening global imbalances, upward global interest rates trend and potentially adverse effect of avian flu pandemic.

Therefore, the ministers underscored the importance of implementing appropriate macroeconomic policy mix and accelerating economic structural reforms.

On the Chiang Mai Initiative (AMI), the ministers reaffirmed to firmly maintain the CMI's two core objectives, namely to address shot-term liquidity difficulties in the region and to supplement the existing international financial arrangements.

The CMI, established in 2000, has two components: an expanded ASEAN Swap Arrangement and a network of bilateral swap arrangements among ASEAN countries, China, Japan and South Korea.

Noting the progress in the Asian Bond Market, the ministers said the size of the local currency bond market in the region has more than quadrupled since 1997.

They said study on the issuance of the asset-backed Asian currency-basket bonds and cross-border local currency bonds would contribute to further development. And they agreed to promote development of an international bond market in the region.

The ministers agreed to carry out research in 2006-2007 for a greater financial stability in the Asian region and financial conglomeration in the East Asian region. Studies will be conducted on steps to create regional monetary units.

On the ASEAN+3's relations with the international financial institutions, they said they will play active roles in the International Monetary Fund policy-making and support its activities.

The ministers agreed to meet again in Kyoto, Japan, in 2007.

Source: Xinhua